Seven Shinigami
by Teh Red Mage
Summary: A retelling of Akira Kurosawa's classic film 'Seven Samurai'. Reenacted by several minor Bleach characters. No pairings. At least not yet.
1. Part 1

This will be the only disclaimer in the story.

I own nothing. Bleach and all related characters are the intellectual property of Tite Kubo. Not from lack of trying mind you! Who would've guessed that he surrounded himself with a horde of ninjas? I mean I didn't! Anyways I digress, Seven Samurai was made by Akira Kurosawa and I only own a DVD copy of it. If you have not seen it, go out right now and buy it. Right now.

This fic started as both an exercise in writing and something to put in my account because it looks so empty, so yeah. Rather than jump full throttle and start a story I decided it would be easier to simply take Akira Kurosawa's classic and reflavor it for Bleach. The stars of the fic, I decided, would be some of the minor characters (and Renji, seriously, I have no idea how he sneaked in there) just because we rarely get any stories with them. Also, although I'm basing this on Kurosawa's film, it won't be a word-for-word adaptation. So yeah, expect some changes if you've watched the film.

Part 1- Cry to the Heavens! / The Cruel Gods.

Dust clouds were kicked into the fresh morning air in medieval Japan as a large group of heavily armed men rode through a country road. Two of them rode ahead, leading the way.

One wore full battle armor of a samurai, if a bit old and used up, along with a helmet adorned with a golden half-moon. The second wore a lighter armor but most distinctively carried a firearm - a musket.

The bandits rode proudly, knowing no one would stand in their way. For many years these had been the rulers of the countryside. They took anything they wanted: food, horses, women; and mercilessly slaughtered those who stood against them.

As the leader saw a village appear in the horizon, he raised his hand, signaling all of the other bandits to stop their mounts.

One of the bandits spoke, "Let's attack that village! We should take their food and women!"

There was laughter and agreement from the others, but the leader opposed.

"No!" he said, "We took their rice last autumn. Right now, they have nothing worth taking. When the barley is ripe, we shall return!" and rode back.

The others followed their leader's command and rode away. Within minutes all evidence of them was gone.

As the bandits rode off, they failed to see a brown-haired thin man crouching on the side of the road. After he was sure he was safe, Asano Keigo got up and ran as quickly as possible back to the village.

---

Nearly everyone on the village had gathered in the center square, women were kneeling and crying, while men were arguing what to do.

The women wailed and cried.

"The Gods have abandoned us!"

"Taxes, wars, labor obligations, droughts, and now bandits!"

"Our lord doesn't protect us!"

"We pay taxes! He should protect us!"

"The inspectors only come after a bandit raid to count the dead…"

"It is our lot in life to suffer. We are only peasants."

"Better to hand everything to the bandits and hang ourselves! Perhaps then, our lord would listen!"

Finally, a girl stood up. A determined look in her eyes, "We will fight!"

Everyone turned to look at the girl as though she had grown a second head.

"Let's make bamboo spears! Let's fight for what is ours!"

Asano approached the girl cautiously, "W-we can't fight Tatsuki-chan. We're only peasants! Besides if we fight, we would all be killed! Not event children or pregnant women would be spared!"

"And you call yourself a man?" Tatsuki said as she glared at him.

Keigo looked down to the ground and laughed nervously, "We… we were born to suffer. It's our destiny, so… so let's just give them everything they want… and let's bow our heads and ask them to leave us just enough to live. "

"And would they listen? Would they?"

No one answered. Every one remained silent for a few minutes, looking fearfully at the two teens: Tatsuki glaring at the weak little man, while Keigo avoided her eyes.

Finally, another teenage boy stood up. "Let's ask Gisaku, he's very wise. He'll know what to do."

"The old man? He can't even see anymore. No offense to your grandpa Misuiro."

"Well, does anyone have a better idea?"

No answer.

The villagers walked over a bridge to a mill. Inside, a small, hunched old man was sitting in the floor.

---

Finally the old man opened his eyes. "We will fight."

Some groans, some cheers, but mostly mumbles were heard from the crowd.

"We can't fight we're just peasants!" Asano said.

Gisaku continued, "We will hire samurai to protect us. Log ago, before any of you were born, when I was still just a boy there was a situation like this. Bandits had ransacked and burned all the villages in the valley, but as we fled to the hills and I looked back, I saw, that amidst all the fires, one village stood unharmed… they had hired samurai. That's what we'll do."

"How? We aren't rich! We can only offer food. Samurai are proud; would they work only for food?" Keigo shouted.

"Then find hungry samurai. Offer them meals. Even a bear comes down from the mountains when he is starving."

"How many samurai should we bring? How many can we feed?" Tatsuki asked, obviously in favor of the idea.

"Bring three or four at least. Asano and Mizuiro will go with you."

"What? Why?" Asano protested.

---

Review dammit!


	2. Part 2

Part 2- Looking for strong samurai / A kind woman.

Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro took a few of their things, and, most importantly, a jug filled with rice, and headed for the nearest town. They stayed at the cheapest possible place - a stable with a common room, where other poor people and assorted riff-raff also spent the nights.

The next morning, they started to look for suitable samurai. Many of them were travelling through the town or living there. They all were proud men, openly carrying arms and wearing silk clothing. It took a long time before they had gathered enough courage to ask even one.

Suddenly, the crowd scattered as Keigo rolled on the ground after having been kicked by a spear-carrying samurai. "I may be poor, but I'm no beggar! I am a samurai. I still have my honor!" he said. Proudly spitting on the now-kneeling Keigo and walking away. "_Baka!_"

"This is hopeless…" Keigo said as Mizuiro helped him up.

They made their way back to their lodgings and sat down together, heads bowed in dismay. "The barley will soon be ripe." Mizuiro said. "We have been away from the village for several days and still we can't find any samurai…"

He sighed "Not to mention that one guy. We gave him so much rice and sake, and then he just left!"

"We are just peasants. We don't know how to gauge samurai." Keigo said.

"So what do you want to do? Go home and negotiate with the bandits?" Tasuki said; obviously angry.

"What else can we do? We haven't found any samurai."

"Well I'm not going back. What will you offer them, your sister? I bet they'd take her, she's pretty enough."

"S-shut up!"

Next morning, Keigo and Mizuiro had packed their things and were headed back to the village. They then noticed a large crowd gathered outside a large mansion with a barn. "What's going on?" Mizuiro asked.

"A bandit was almost caught last night, but he ran into that barn over there."

"But there's a lot of you. Surely you could take him." Keigo pointed out.

"Yes, but he took a child hostage, and says he'll kill him if we try anything. We're powerless!"

"But a samurai is willing to help!" another said.

The crowd had circled a tall, silver-haired woman who was passing her sword to a shorter blonde one, and took a tray with two onigiri into her hands.

"A woman?" Keigo said.

"Yes, weird I know, but she's a great swordswoman."

The crowd followed the woman as she walked toward the barn, all the while keeping their distance from fear of angering the bandit. The samurai approached the barn as a child's crying could be heard from the inside. The bandit screamed "Don't come any closer! I'll kill the kid!"

With a calm voice, the samurai responded, "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything, I'm just a servant from the house. The master said to bring some food for the child as well as you. Surely you must be hungry. "

"Throw them in!" the man inside commanded.

The samurai approached, opened the door and threw the food inside. However, before the second onigiri had touched the ground, the woman sprinted inside. There was silence, then a scream "_Oryaa!_" and a loud sound of metal meeting flesh. Seconds later, a man stumbled out, slowly at first, but then stopped. He rolled his eyes back and fell, blood trickling from his mouth.

The child's mother dashed forward and ran into the barn just as the woman and the child came out. The samurai stepped out the door and handed the child to the older woman.

"That was great Onee-san!" the shorter, blonde girl said as she approached the samurai. "I bet there's no one who would have handled that situation better than you!"

"Kiyone, don't make a big deal out of it. Let's just get home Okaa-san is waiting for us." The taller said as the two started to walk into the town.

Keigo and Mizuiro followed them hesitantly.

"Should we ask her?" Mizuiro said. As Keigo seemed to agree, he added "Quickly, before we lose her."

Keigo, arming himself with valor, rushed forward, and kowtowed before the two girls. "Sorry to disturb you! But I have something to ask you Samurai-sama! My name is Asano Keigo and our village is in great danger!"

Mizuiro approached as well and bowed. Then he began to explain the situation.

---

At the lodging Mizuiro and the silver-haired woman, now identified as Kotetsu Isane, were discussing the situation.

"Gotta hand it to you guys" Tatsuki told Keigo ouside, as he cooked some rice for the two samurai. "I didn't expect you to come back."

"Well, we found some samurai; it would be a waste to go home without trying one last time…" he was interrupted, however, by Isane speaking inside.

"No, it's impossible." She said.

"But, Onee-san," Kyione said, "They could make bamboo spears to fight back."

"Yes, I thought about that."

"But Onee-san…"

"This isn't a game," Isane glared at her sister, and started to pace across the room, "Forty bandits. Two or three samurai could not cope with such a number… to plan a defense is harder than an attack… are there hills behind your village?"

"Yes!" Mizuiro confirmed.

"Accesible to horses?"

"Yes!"

Isane became pensive for a while, "Fields in front of the village, so it's wide open, until they are flooded for rice… we'd need four men to guard the approach… and two more in reserve… so you'd need seven samurai, including myself…"

"Seven…" Mizuiro said to himself

"Gisaku told us to get four." Tatsuki mentioned as she walked into the room "I think we could manage three more."

"Great Onee-san!" Kiyone said. "I knew you wouldn't abandon them!"

"Wh-what?" Isane said as she broke out of her reverie. "I-I never said…" but everyone had moved on and was no longer listening to her. "… what did I get myself into…"

---

Note: Now, I know what you're thinking. "But Teh Red Mage, there were no female samurai!" well that's where you're wrong! Admittedly they were pretty rare, but a few women were samurai and not just in name either. They were actual sword-wielding battle hardened warriors! A great example was Tomoe Gozen (.org/wiki/Tomoe_Gozen). So yeah, review.


	3. Part 3

This one went up quickly since I was done with it in a few hours. The next one should go up on wednesday. Remeber to review guys!

Part 3- Old allies / Swordsman woodcutter

Next day, the Kotetsu sisters and the villagers agreed to meet outside the Kotetsu residence.

"I have explained the situation to mother," Isane told Tatsuki, "and she has agreed to allow you to stay at our house, but since we have so little to spare, you'll have to provide for yourselves."

"That's great." Tatsuki said. "At the very least we won't have to pay anymore for that crummy place…"

"But Nee-san, where are we going to find more samurai?" Kiyone asked as the group walked into the town. "I mean, most people wouldn't work just for food…"

"Well no," Isane agreed, "But there's also the fact that not everybody wants to have a monetary reward. So we'll be going to see an old friend of mine. We served the same lord during a campaign, and she owes me quite a few favors, so I'm going to cash them in."

"Is this person strong?" Keigo asked.

"Hmm… I suppose she's not very strong with the sword, but she's a good shot with the bow…"

"Another woman?"

"Something wrong with it fish-face?" Kiyone said.

"N-no, just… uh… out of the ordinary… yeah, that's it!"

Kiyone continued her verbal assaults toward Keigo for most of the walk through the town, to the point everyone they passed stared at them.

"We're here" Isane said as the group arrived in front of a small, but comfortable house.

Isane proceeded to knock at the door and waited outside with the group, finally after a few minutes a girl's voice came from the inside, "I'm coming." She said.

A small girl opened the door, black hair held up in a bun, and a dressed in a plain white kimono.

"Isane-san, good morning!" she said with a smile "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Mind if we come in Hinamori-san?"

---

"…so basically that's the situation." Isane finished telling the tale to her host.

"And you are searching for strong samurai to help these people?" Hinamori said with dubious eyes.

"Yes."

"And you want me to join you as well."

"Again, correct."

"A job where there will be no glory, money, nor fame."

"Uh… yes…"

"Where the only reward will be three meals a day and the satisfaction that I've done the right thing?"

"Well… when you put it that way…"

"Very dangerous too…"

Isane fell silent. The tension in the room grew exponentially for every minute that passed as Hinamori silently considered the proposal.

Finally, the silence broke as Hinamori broke into laughter.

"Ha ha, you should have seen your face Isane-san, it was great!"

"Hey, hey! We're serious here!" Kiyone said.

"Yes, I know, but it was simply a situation where I couldn't help but try and lighten the mood!"

"Is that your answer then?" Isane asked, already visibly relieved.

"Yes, of course I'll join you," Hinamori said, finally regaining her composure "after all, 'samurai' means 'to serve.' So I'll be glad to help anybody in need."

"That's good to hear."

---

"So what do we do now?" Hinamori asked as she joined the group outside a few minutes later.

"We'll split up and search the town," Isane ordered "remember, the samurai must be strong as well as willing. Otherwise, we'll just walk into our deaths."

A chorus or 'right's came from the group as they walked in different directions, a single thought in their minds.

---

Hinamori plopped down on a bench and started sipping water an old man brought her. As she was drinking, she started thinking out loud, "Didn't think they'd be so hard to find."

"Excuse me?" the old man said.

"Ah, sorry, I'm looking for samurai."

"Samurai, eh? Hah, there's one behind my house for all he's worth. He kept asking for food, then said he'd cut my wood since he had no money." At this remark the two shared a good nature laugh, which was interrupted by the sound of an axe splitting lumber in the background.

The old man got up and looked toward the house. "He seems like an honest sort of boy thought… strong too…"

Hinamori, now interested, got to her feet, "Would you mind terribly if I met him Ojii-san?"

"Not at all, be my guest!"

---

Behind the house, Hinamori saw a red-haired man, with tattoos along his forehead, swinging and axe down and expertly cutting a billet in a single, quick chop.

"Ha!" he yelled every time he chopped the billet.

She smiled to herself and sat down on the ground quietly so as not to break his concentration. The man took another billet from the mound and noticed her.

"What the hell?" the man said obviously surprised to see the girl sitting there, "Haven't you ever seen anyone chop wood?"

"Not with that much enthusiasm."

"Well, it's my nature." He placed another billet and swung down. "Ha!"

"You're good"

"It's harder than killing opponents."

"Have you killed many?"

"I'm alive right? As long as I'm not dead, then that means I've beaten my opponents."

"Well, I suppose that's right…"

Hinamori fell silent after this, watching the man chop wood enthusiastically.

After a few minutes she finally spoke again. "How about killing twenty or thirty bandits Abarai-kun?"

The axe flew from his hands as he was lifting it, nearly killing a napping cat, and the man turned around fully for the first time.

"How the hell do you know my…" he stopped short as he got a good look at the girl. And, after a few seconds of hanging his mouth finally found his words again. "Hinamori-san?"

"Good afternoon Abarai-kun…"

---

"Any luck?" Hinamori said as she received her companions outside the Kotetsu residence.

Isane and the others looked despondent.

"No." Tatsuki said. "Is every other samurai a money-hungry jerk?"

"I found one," Isane said "A fine swordsman, but he left when he heard we would not get any money.

"The one that gets away gets to look good" Hinamori said.

"Well you're awfully cheery." Kiyone mentioned suspiciously. "You find anyone?"

"He's inside." She said as she led the group into the house. "We studied swordplay from the same master, but he's a lot stronger than me." Finally, they made it to the back, where they met the red-haired samurai.

"Good afternoon" he said when he saw the group. "My name is Abarai Renji."

---

Well, it was kind of difficult to adapt some of the characters since they have so little development in BLEACH, as such they might seem a little OOC at times. You might have noticed for example, that Kiyone has replaced their hero-worship of Ukitake with a hero worship for Isane. Stuff like that might happen... so please review, it just takes a few minutes of you time.


	4. Part 4

Note: It should be noted that I have never played a single game of Hanafuda in my entire life. As such, I don't know how to cheat at it, so I just abstained from describing that scene. If anyone wants to illustrate me on this point, please do so in a review so I can expand on this chapter properly.

Part 4- Silent swordsman / Warriors of the gambling house

"Oi!" one of the villagers shouted, "Oi! Come and have a look! Keigo came back!"

Many people came over to the square just as Mizuiro arrived, "You're back! Where are Arasawa-san and Kojima-san?"

"Ah, well they're still in town, trying to hire more samurai." At this piece of news, the villagers' spirits quickly rose.

"So you found some?"

"Great news!"

"Let's go tell Gisaku."

The villagers all rushed to the mill, clearing a path among their number for Keigo. As he went in, he was followed by as many villagers that could fit into the small room. Gisaku was sitting in the same place as last time, his eyes closed.

"Gisaku-san," Keigo began, "we have succeeded in hiring samurai."

"How many?" the old man asked as he opened his eyes.

"We have found four samurai, but we hope to find seven in total."

"Seven!" someone from the crowd said "can we feed that many?"

Keigo became flustered and turned to the crowd, "Oh, well, I know you said four, so we thought that maybe…"

"Do not apologize," Gizaku interrupted, "I said four when I was actually thinking of ten. If I had said ten, then you would have brought fifteen. However, the most important question is: are they strong?"

"Ah, well Kotetsu Isane-san is really strong, she killed a bandit and rescued a child hostage without even using her sword. Then, there's Kotetsu Kiyone-san, she's mean, and I don't know if she's strong. There's Hinamori Momo-san, she's not strong with the sword, but very skilled with the bow. And last, there's Abarai Renji-san, he's very strong, but well, not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed…"

"But I'm worried…" one of the men from the crowd said, "women fall easily for samurai… and maybe they'll go chasing after them…"

A few others looked at him dumbfounded. "If the bandits come they'll cut off our heads! We'll worry about the girls later!"

A chorus of mumbles came from the others in agreement and set back to their daily business.

_I just hope Nee-san doesn't do anything wrong…_ Keigo thought

---

For the second day in a row, the group split up outside the Kotetsu residence in their search for samurai.

Hinamori and Renji were walking together catching up, when they saw another large crowd forming close to a nearby meadow. Someone was yelling, "Come see this!"

They saw two samurai facing each other in the meadow, holding bamboo sticks. One had a bored-looking face, blonde hair that covered his left eye, while the other wore a ragged kimono and a long, grubby beard.

The bearded samurai held his stick high, in a classic _Joudan_ stance. The second man lowered his sword and prepared for the inevitable attack. Letting out a battle cry, the bearded one charged. At the moment of contact, the blonde one took a swing. Both seemed to take a hit.

"Too bad," the bearded one said, "that was a draw."

"No," the blonde one responded, "I won."

"Nonsense"

"I would have killed you with a real sword."

"Alright then, let's use real swords."

"No."

"Why not?"

"If I use a real sword I'll kill you. It's stupid."

"Wait!" the bearded one said as he stepped in front of his adversary. "Draw your sword! And don't try to back out!"

Sighing, the blonde man drew his sword and held it in the same position as before. The other man went back to his _Joudan_.

"Idiot, why challenge when the result is obvious?" Renji asked himself.

However, before Hinamori had time to respond, the two clashed, sending a thin mist of red blood spraying into the grass. The blonde man sighed, cleaned his sword and started walking away.

"Wait," Hinamori cried out, and both she and Renji went running after him.

As they caught up with him he finally recognized his old dojo mates. "Hinamori-san? Abarai-san? What's going on?"

"Yo Kira!" Renji said, "You've gotten better."

After exchanging pleasantries, Hinamori explained the situation to their friend.

"Sorry, but I'm only interested in honing my skills nowadays," Kira said, "I have no intention of killing bandits."

"Well, look at it this way" Renji said, "you get a bunch of new opponents to practice and you get to play hero for a few days." Then Renji pulled him into a neck-lock and lowered his voice. "And who knows… the girls at the village might be cute… you know what I'm saying?"

"Abarai-san… you shouldn't say indecent things…"

"Come on… or do you have something better to do?"

"Well no, not really…"

"Are you married then?"

"No…"

"Are you… are you gay?"

"For the millionth time, no!"

"'Cause I'm totally cool with that you know?"

"NO!"

"Are you sure?"

"YES!"

"Positive?"

"YES!"

"Then it's decided! You're coming with us!" Renji said, suddenly raising his voice and startling everyone in the vicinity.

"Wait, I never agreed…"

"It's great that Kira-kun is coming as well!" Hinamori said.

They headed back to the Kotetsu house, Renji dragging Kira all the way there.

---

"Well damn," Kiyone said as she walked into the house with her sister, "No luck. How about you guys?"

"Found an old friend," Renji said without looking up from his and Kira's game of hanafuda; Renji was winning since he was cheating.

"At this rate we'll be too late!"

"Well," Kira said as he lost yet another round "you can't exactly expect people to flock here when all you're offering is food and shelter"

"And the fight" Renji said.

"What, again with that?" Kira asked somewhat exasperated.

"What do you mean?" Isane asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, some people could be swayed if we convince them that it's going to be a good fight." Renji explained, "Violent people, you know maybe Yakuza… Oh! I know! We can go to the gambling house I used to go to; some of the guys there are pretty strong."

"Is that how you lost all your money?" Hiamori asked, suspicious of his intentions.

"Shut up."

"I don't have any money to bet. And the villagers have no money, period. How are you gonna get in?" Isane asked.

"No problem, I just cleaned Kira out."

Everyone turned to look at the silent samurai.

"I'm no good at these kinds of things." He explained.

---

Later that night, Renji, Kira, and Isane were standing before a gambling house on the outskirts of town.

"You can't cheat this time," Isane began "These people are Yakuza."

"Bah! So what?" Renji said defiantly "We're samurai, we can't be afraid of little things like that."

"Yes, but there's a lot of them."

"So? There's gonna be a lot of bandits too. Numbers aren't everything."

"Well no, but they sure help."

Finally, led by Renji, the group went into the structure. It was more like a longhouse, the entire structure turned into one very spacious room where many people gambled away their money, hopeful for a lucky streak, to turn the situation around. A lucky streak that never came…

Renji scanned the room with his eyes looking for someone, until he was blinded by a bright light.

"Ah, the light!" Kira said as he covered his eyes.

Renji looked excited, "There's only one man whose head shines that brightly… Madarame Ikkaku!"

They made their way to the spot where the aforementioned man was playing. He was a dangerous-looking man with a shaven head and eyes that seemed reserved for demons who lived only in the battlefield, beside him a strange man was sitting against the wall, his appearance greatly contrasting with his companion's. He had well-kept hair and colorful feathers on his left eyebrow and eyelashes, shiny skin and gave off an aura of feminity. They were just done cleaning another of the house's regulars when Renji came close enough to hear the conversation.

"Please man!" the older man said to the shaven-haired man "You can't take everything! My wife will kill me if I come home empty-handed again!"

"You really should've thought about that before you came in here Makizo," the skinhead replied with a smile, "we're not exactly known for our acts of charity."

"But-but-but…"

"Listen: you can leave or we can kick you out, which one do you prefer?"

"Well… if I get kicked out I can tell the wife I was robbed so…"

"Kicking out it is!" Ikkaku yelled as two other thugs came and took the poor man away to be beaten and thrown out into the street. After this he turned toward our red-headed samurai.

"Yo Renji, I didn't think you'd come back so quickly."

"I got a job," Renji answered "but it's pretty suicidal so I decided to spend a little while gambling here, you know?"

"Suicidal?" Ikkaku said "Then why are you going?"

"Well, I thought I might as well die in a great fight."

At this suddenly Ikkaku perked up and seemed to find new interest in the conversation.

"Is it going to be tough?" he asked.

"Probably… it's just five of us against twenty bandits…"

"Hah! Well, with your skill I can see why you'd be worried for such a small number! Why I bet I could take thirty bandits on my own!"

"Really now? How about forty?"

Finally, the feminine-looking man spoke. "Why Abarai-san could it be that you are recruiting help for this mystery endeavor?"

"That would be correct." Isane confirmed before Renji had answered.

"Yeah Yumichika," Renji continued "but we can't pay anything, so I decided to see if you guys would be interested…"

"No money?" Ikkaku asked "Then why are you doing it?"

"Who knows?" Renji said.

"Hmm… but you came in here with cash right?" Renji pulled out his wallet and made sure the coins inside made as much sound as possible. Ikkaku still seemed interested if not convinced. Maybe for the samurai's adventure, maybe wondering how to take away his money, "Tell you what man… we'll play a few hands of Hanafuda… if you win, we go with you… but if you lose, then you hand over everything you've got on you. What do you say?"

"I'm in," Renji agreed, "but let me tell you I've gotten much better."

"We'll see about that."

---

A few hours later, Renji, Kira, Isane, Ikkaku and Yumichika were running away from a burning gambling house.

"That got weird fast!" Isane said.

"Hey, how far is this village place?" Yumichika asked.

"Far enough!" Isane confirmed.

"When do we leave?"

"At dawn tomorrow."

---

Notes: Okay, I have no idea why I chose to try and include comedy in this chapter. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. Tell me what you thought and review please.

_Joudan _is a stance in kendo where you raise your sword up high above your head in prepearation of a vertical slash downwards. It's a pretty common offensive stance, but while simple, it's very hard to master correctly.

Lastly, remember when I said that some characters might act a bit OOCish? Well, as I've finally finished plotting the story, Ikkaku might seem a lot more 'weak' than usual (or at least less of an irresponsible jerk.) Same goes for Mizuho (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge...)


End file.
